MovieChat Forums > Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1957) Discussion > It's not such a big thing.

It's not such a big thing.

posted 10 years ago by carkol2005
6 replies | jump to latest

It's a good movie, not bad. But there's nothing much than that. I don't understand
people who claim that is the best prison film. Wait what? There are many prison films better than this one. The acting was mediocre. I mean, I don't empathize with Fountaine at all, looks like a robot, he got everything calculated, I don't feel pity for him, I don't feel his pain, hell does he even suffer inside the prison? Except for a couple of scenes, seems he keeps the situation in control. Even when he's sentenced to death!! Sorry guys but I don't see any special. Could you explain to me??

[–] Ddhandarah 10 years ago

I came on here to say the exact same thing. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.

SEE YOU AT DA PAHTY, RICHTAH!

[–] gilbert_gumphrey 10 years ago

I think it was the lack of melodrama in such a melodramatic setting that appeals to people the most. It's a very meat-and-potatoes kind of film, nothing flashy, but consistently engaging and suspenseful.

I will agree, however, that the lack of hardships in the prison was a negative aspect. The movie started with a sign saying Nazi's killed hundreds of people there, but it actually seemed like an Ok place to be stuck in; guards never bothered or berated you, and unless you were actually sentenced to die, it looked like you could kinda just wait it out and be bored until you were released.

[–] pedrocp 10 years ago

I believe people claim this is one of the best ''prison films'' because of the peculiar, unadorned way the story is told – removing unnecessary shots, effects and long dialogs. In fact, the acting was ment to be ''mediocre'', since Bresson wanted no emotions to be reflected in Fountaine's face. It helps the audience to focus on the methodical way he analyzes his cell and figures out his escape, little by little, using every small detail in his favor.
I hope I have helped you, sorry for my bad english.

When a tree is growing, it's tender and pliant. But when it's dry and hard, it dies. Hardness and strength are death's companions. Pliancy and weakness are expressions of the freshness of being. Because what has hardened will never win. Stalker

[–] Charlot47 9 years ago

Though about 98% of it is shot in one, what makes you think it is a prison film? Prisons are for criminals. The French men and women held there by the Germans were victims of Nazi persecution, either deported to concentration camps or shot.

For Lieutenant Fontaine, fighting the occupiers as a member of the French Resistance, blowing up a bridge was an act of war. No different from if the bridge had instead been destroyed by the crew of an American B-17 bomber.

If you think the régime in Montluc was benign, try sitting in a room for 23 hours a day in filthy bloodstained clothes with only a bowl of soup and a bucket of your own excrement for company. Plus a soundtrack of other inmates being beaten and shot.

If you do not feel pity for the captives we see in the film, or for the tens of thousands they represent, I do not think the fault lies in the film.

[–] boxerrebellion 8 years ago

I think part of what made this film so powerful was the way it was stripped down. We didn't have to see Fontaine beaten, we saw the results on his face... and on his shirt for the remainder of the story.

[–] tpupkin 8 years ago

Movies like this are usually about the mechanics/adventure of the escape. Bresson's movie has those things, but they aren't primary. This movie is about the will to escape. It's what's happening inside the man rather than what he does that makes this film different and special.